


Author of the Moment, can you tell me. . . ?

by DetectiveOfTheEast, MagicKaitō1412 (naosuki)



Series: Impetuous Souls [4]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Book Exchange, Dorks in Love, Falling In Love, M/M, Pining, Post-Conan Kudou Shinichi, Slow Burn, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-10 03:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21454666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveOfTheEast/pseuds/DetectiveOfTheEast, https://archiveofourown.org/users/naosuki/pseuds/MagicKait%C5%8D1412
Summary: “I'm not-!”‘Staring’ is what he would've liked to say, but he had been, hadn’t he? He really went all out, claiming Shinichi as his own even though the other doesn't really know who he truly is. At least his stare would be easy to explain. . . easy to lie about, again.“I just didn't expect those hickeys, I suppose.” A few moments pass. Technically, that wasn’t a lie.“You got a lover or something?”God dammit Kuroba. You know it's you, what the hell are you doing?
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid
Series: Impetuous Souls [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1517900
Comments: 3
Kudos: 129





	Author of the Moment, can you tell me. . . ?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DetectiveOfTheEast](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DetectiveOfTheEast/gifts).

Tantei-kun ✨  
  
Kudō-kun~  
  
Wanna go to the English book exchange with me? ʅ(• - •?)ʃ  
  
I know you're dying to read more detective stuff, so.  
  
I won't take "no" for an answer!! (╬ Ò ‸ Ó)  
  
Yo, Kuroba.  
  


Purveyor of Nonsense 🃏  
  
Yo, Kuroba.  
  
Yeah, why not. ┐(︶▽︶)┌  
  
When do we meet?  
  
15.45 - Shibuya - the usual location.  
  


Tantei-kun ✨  
  
Don't forget to bring some books to trade. (Ò ‸ Ó)  
  
Because I'm not sure I've got enough for both of us.  
  
I'll be waiting~   
  


Kuroba waits at the Hachikō statue, with books in hand that he plans to trade in for nothing but detective-themed literature. He wasn’t here for himself. No, all he wanted to do was brighten up Shinichi’s day.

Purveyor of Nonsense 🃏  
  
I'll be waiting~  
  
Sorry, I'll be a bit late. 人(_ _*)  
  


Kudō types, like a liar. Just a few moments later, he's quietly sneaking up on Kaito, with his backpack in tow, while the person in question is looking down at his phone, smile dropping.

“Is he okay...?” He mutters it more to himself than anyone in particular - and regrets it the second he hears someone shuffling closer. But instead of acknowledging Shinichi, he pretends to type a reply, while Kudō sneaks closer and closer, as quiet as he can possibly muster, puts his mouth right beside the younger man's ear, and whispers: “Hello, Kaito-chan~”

Kaito genuinely feels a little shudder at that - his ears turning a slightly redder shade - because while he saw his friend approaching, he actually expected him to try and startle him in a different way.

“Oh geez-! Ku-dō-kuuuuuun!” There is a genuine pout in there, somewhere.

“Don't do that. Don't  _ say _ that-!”

The detective immediately becomes aware of Kaito's ears turning a bit more red than is conventional, but he decides to keep silent to avoid any embarrassment. (It's really cute, though.)

“Say what exactly, Kaito-chan?”

In all honesty, Shinichi hasn't been in a good mood when the day started. He's still hung up on what happened at his house with Kaitō Kid the night before. However, he will put on a mask, even if it's just a matter of time till the other one notices. He just couldn't be bothered today.

Kaito points a finger at him and squints.

“Are you really playing that game right now, Kudō-chan?”

“With you? Always.”

Then, Kaito’s face turns into a shark-like grin. Kudō-Senpai, come on, come on~ we have to hurry~.” The “hurry” coming out in a somewhat lewd way as he winks at his friend.

Not expecting the way Kaito stresses his words obscenely like that, Shinichi starts fumbling with his hands and laughs awkwardly, trying to sound more collected and cool when he speaks up again. “Tch, you are such a dork. . .”

Kuroba grabs Kudō’s hand and pulls him with him, leading them towards the Book Exchange place. “I am  _ your _ dork, Sen~pai~”

Forgetting himself for a moment, he starts happily swinging his bag around a little, not thinking about the previous night, only about how many books he wants to get for Shinichi.

“But seriously, drop the -chan.” He sticks his tongue out.

“Okay, Kaito- _ kun _ . You're  _ my  _ dork. Not sure if I am your  _ senpai _ , though.” The detective pets his magician’s hair a few times in a non-patronizing manner. If his hair  _ could  _ get any messier, it probably would now. Kaito kinda wonders if he should mess Shinichi's hair up in return. He doesn't, though.

“I mean,  _ you  _ noticed  _ me _ , so that kinda doesn't make you the best stereotypical senpai.”

Shinichi just hums in thought at that, putting his finger to his chin. “I took a few books with me and it's getting rather heavy. I hope you are going to take the lead today, kōhai~”

Kuroba shrugs and leads them around a corner, then another one, and another one.

“I hope you're not planning on ruining your back with all those books, old man.”

“Who are you calling old? We're basically the same age!” He flicks his finger against the other's head, or rather, there is an attempt because it proves to be rather difficult to do that while they're walking.

“Nah, you're with one foot in your grave, old man.” Kaito snickers and ducks his head as if he expects to get smacked for that comment. He's casually smiling, though.

“Is that how you treat your senpai, Kuroba-kun? Show some respect to your elders!” Playfully, the detective ruffles Kaito's hair a little more harshly than he usually does, a grin spread across his face. Kaito can’t help but leaning into the touch.

“Hey, I never asked. What kind of books are you into? I mean, you know about my Holmes obsession. I'd prefer something fact-based, like a thriller or nonfiction, but, who knows, perhaps I'll find something different that I'd like to read just as much. Recently I never really get round to reading and I miss having leisure time.”

“Well. . . I quite enjoy Fantasy. Sci-Fi. Mythology? I'm not all that picky.” He doesn't mention KID related books, doesn't want to pretend to be his own fan today. Neither does he mention Arsene Lupin - enough with those gentleman thieves already - and instead just focuses on what he read when he was younger. “Just something that excites me, I suppose.”

Just as they arrive, Shinichi has to make a stop, putting his backpack on the ground. “I'm expecting you to be on your best behaviour from now on.”

Kaito grins, puts his arm around the other guy, and pushes him down with his own weight. “I'm always on my best behaviour, senpai~”

Breathing deeply, the detective concludes that it's too warm to wear a scarf in the midday sun, sweating quite a bit, now that they've walked all the way down here.

“The old man needs a quick break, if you don't mind~”

Shinichi takes off his scarf in one swift movement, revealing a few hickeys that a certain thief garnished his body with.

“Alright, take your time, gram-” The magician’s eyes widen, immediately spotting the oddly coloured skin on Shinichi's body, causing him to flush slightly and stare. Naturally, Kudō catches a glimpse of the usually so chipper prankster, feeling slightly confused by his reaction. Why was he staring at him, no, at his neck, to be precise? There must be- ugh, the hickeys.  _ You're getting sloppy, Shinichi _ .

“...pa.” Kaito has to look away. He’s clenching his fists, thinking about what KID has done. What he has done. He feels like an asshole.

“Since you're on your best behaviour and all, why are you staring then, bishōnen?” Shinichi winks playfully, enjoying the closeness between the two of them too much to let anything get in between it. He doesn't know why he's this cheerful today, but he decides to indulge himself. Especially after the whole vanishing act fiasco.

“I'm not-!”

_ ‘Staring’  _ is what he would've liked to say, but he had been, hadn’t he? He really went all out, claiming Shinichi as his own even though the other doesn't really know who he truly is. At least his stare would be easy to explain. . . easy to  _ lie  _ about, again.

“I just didn't expect those hickeys, I suppose.” A few moments pass.  _ Technically, that wasn’t a lie _ .

“You got a lover or something?”

_ God dammit Kuroba. You know it's you, what the hell are you doing? _

“Well, no. I don't have a lover. I told you before that I don't have time for a significant other right now, didn't I?”

Which, truth be told, doesn't explain the hickeys but Shinichi cannot possibly tell his friend that ‘ _ Kaitō Kid came through my window and threw himself at me _ ’ because the magician wouldn't believe him anyway. As far as Shinichi knows, the other guy was a huge fan of Kaitō Kid, so he'd probably be a little reluctant to regard his words as true.

“Right. Yeah. Yeah, I suppose you  _ did- _ ”

The secret Phantom Thief’s voice comes out stiff and strained, like he hadn't used it in a while. And well. Remembering that  _ stings _ . Not because Shinichi didn't have time to date, but because it only confirmed that he seriously fucked up. Couldn't he have gotten horny for a pillow or something? Enough people were!

Shinichi notices the slight shift in Kaito's voice, but even he isn't capable of figuring out what might be going on in that head of his.

“Anyways, if anyone's a bishi, it's you, Kudō!” With that, he pushes Shinichi towards the book exchange, his hand subtly landing over the hickeys on his neck as he does so.

“Is that a compliment?” Shinichi smiles at Kaito and is grateful that he likely won't demand a further explanation for the bruises - more like love bites - on his neck, even covering them up with his hand.

All of this doesn't stop Kaito’s monkey brain from flirting, though. “You know I'd always compliment you~”

Because  _ Shinichi's smiling _ and he- he thinks he might be in  _ love _ .

“You know you're my favourite, right~?”  _ Oh _ . That's not it, right?

“Your favourite detective? I'm flattered.” The Detective of the East is raising an eyebrow suggestively, eyes secretly shining with glee.

“Nah, not my favourite  _ detective _ . Just my favourite.”

Kaito pulls out the books he wanted to exchange for ones that might interest Shinichi but then stops in his tracks, noticing the other's expression.

Lowering his voice, Shinichi continues: “You're a smooth talker, Kuroba. How could I believe you if you keep whispering fabricated sweet nothings into my ear like that?”

“Would I lie to you, detective~?” Holding the books in one hand, and putting the other hand on Shinichi's shoulder, he leans in close and whispers back to him: “Believe in me.”

Then, he spins on his heels and walks towards some promising looking people.

“ _ Would _ you lie to me?  _ You _ should be able to answer that, dear Kaito-kun.” Shinichi mutters, too late for Kaito to hear.

Kuroba is bailing on him - but Shinichi soon recognises a familiar face amongst many: Masumi Sera, walking straight toward the Detective in Blue with long steps. Impact is imminent- "Kudō-kun~!"

Shinichi immediately reveals an English copy of Kudō Yusaku's ‘Night Baron’ without greeting her beforehand, which is followed by a squeal and ‘ _ I read the Night Baron novel series a lot as a kid! How did you know? _ ’ She then gives him a book in return and is already moving along shortly after.

Kaito, for his part, is rather quick in exchanging his books, having promptly found an eager bunch of young ladies that want to chat him up and have his books, in that order. And while he does flirt with them in return, even showing them some magic tricks to entertain them after he got the spoils he desired, his eyes never leave the detective's frame. The magician just constantly skims the room for his whereabouts, never resting until he knows exactly where he is.

After talking to Sera, Shinichi spends some time with different people who seem intriguing. Time is fleeting by quickly and soon, he has no more books to exchange. 

Considering how much attention he gives to the detective, it's unsurprising that he cuts his little show short once he realises that Kudō has finished and is now helplessly standing in a figurative corner, apart from people and looking for Kaito, seeming lost without him.

Kuroba decides to sneak up on him from behind, magically letting a bag filled with books drop into the detective's arms. In it, there are a bunch of award-winning books, most, if not all, written by Japanese authors. The catch? They're all the English versions. There's 'the Master Key', 'the Labyrinth of the Scriptorium', 'the Case of the Sharaku Murders', 'the Devotion of Suspect X', 'the Kubikiri Cycle', and even 'the Black Cat Takes a Stroll', and some more.

“Sorry I took so long, those girls over there spun me around their little fingers. Anyways, I got those for you, so I hope you'll enjoy them.”

Shinichi is genuinely startled by the amount of books that the charming trickster was able to gather, and now he is giving it all to the confused detective.

“If I didn't know better, I would actually believe that this is a confession of undying love. All of this, for me? And you picked up the English versions as well,” he switches to English, “what a flattering gesture from a true gentleman.” Even though he says his statement with an air of burlesque confidence to playfully mock Kaito, an unwanted blush creeps onto his face nonetheless. Kuroba gasps and theatrically places a hand over his heart.

“Everyone knows my one and only true love is magic.” Which,  _ to be fair, _ not entirely untrue. But he wouldn't mind having an undying love with and for something or someone besides magic, and Kudō  _ would _ make a good person to hold dear.

“And oh, so you're telling me that they spun you around their little finger and not the other way around?” Shinichi laughs hesitantly, looking down at the bag he was handed.

“I'm serious, it was all them! Now c'mon, let's get going.”

Kaito says, wrapping his own scarf around Shinichi's neck and thus hiding the hickeys he himself left on him, as they walk out into the city again.

“Thank you for your gift. . . in all sincerity.”

“Don’t mention it.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the direct follow-up to "You might kill me with desire."
> 
> The title of this fanfiction is taken from "Happily Ever After" by He Is We.
> 
> Please leave some comments, I'm lonely (ᗒᗣᗕ)՞


End file.
